What is so funny? 160 units (To arm each army division with a 16-unit squadron) by 2035 is certainly affordable especially with ToT. Whether we actually do it is a seperate discussion.
We can buy the first few dozens fully assembled and in the meanwhile set up infrastructure and train manpower to assemble the rest.
Attack helicopters are essential for BA given how difficult most of BD terrain is for tank and troop movement. They will make any land invasion of BD an impossible task for the enemy.
UAVs tech has not yet matured enough to offer the firepower that helicopters can provide.
I see your point regarding lack of MRCA and SAM cover which are essential and should be prioritised but we cannot simply pause modernisation all other areas of the military for that.
You answered your own question with one line. You sound like the BAF version of me, dreaming about 160 attack helicopters for BA like the 10 squadrons of fighters.
I have clarified from the start that what I am proposing (160 units in 15 years) is what SHOULD be procured rather than what will actually happen.
Don't know what "dream" you speak of.
You didn't show the math so i guess you want army to order 10-12 aircraft per every year which unlikely to happen. Army Aviation's whole fleet is small, their helicopter fleet is even smaller and they are based at Dhaka. I don't see them talking about having 10 helicopter per division. They haven't even started the process to buy six more Mi-171 helicopter. Attack helicopter is just plan for now and no suitable option is available except American ones,
More importantly i doubt army thinks that they require 160 attack helicopters while BAF wants to operate it too. Even if we get TOT, it will be transferred to BAF. Army doesn't have any infrastructure or personnel to absorb that and same goes for BAF right now.
We need to understand and discuss what our operations needs are for credible deterrence regardless of what decisions are taken by the leaders as they often mess up. This is one of the key purposes of having military forums.
I am quite familiar with military circles and how the military functions and organises itself.
Each Infantry division is authorised to maintain at least 4 fighting arms brigades (Infantry/armour).
That is 12K+ ground troops fighting in the front lines.
16 attack helicopters (mind you not all units will remain operational at all times) is bare minimum coverage for a front line deployment this big.
Sometimes I wish we had a few small scale wars so that people would realise how deficient we are in terms of equipment.
As for training and capacity building, the army can initially work with BAF to fast track churning out more and more helicopter pilots.
BAF should not be in the business of operating attack helicopters.
The 15 year timeframe is for building capabilities from scratch. Why is this so hard to fathom?
It funny to see you talking about attack helicopter's TOT while call BAF's aircraft production plan a vanity project.
I call BAF's plan to build trainer aircraft a vanity project for good reason. How many damn basic trainers do we need?
During wars, it is fighter jets that suffer attrition in the air and need fast replacement/repair.
Should we not be focusing first on building capabilities to assemble, repair and eventually manufacture some spares for fighter jets?
I would like BAF to engage SAAB to help build up training and infrastructure for BAC and tailor the curriculum of the aviation university to enable operation, maintenance, overhaul and eventual (in the long term) assembly and manufacture (spares at least) of Gripens.
SAAB is already doing something similar with Brazil. Granted we would need a lot more handholding and time compared to Brazil but we need to start somewhere.
